


End Credits

by songsformonkeys



Category: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2021)
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songsformonkeys/pseuds/songsformonkeys
Summary: You know you have fucked up as soon as you hear the angry yell from behind. You and Javi have almost reached the front doors of his home when the sound reaches your ears, and you only have enough time to twist around and place yourself between the shouting man and Javi before pain explodes in your shoulder, as the first bullet hits.
Relationships: Javi Gutierrez/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @heatherbel for the beta <3

”GUTIERREZ!”

You know you have fucked up as soon as you hear the angry yell from behind. You and Javi have almost reached the front doors of his home when the sound reaches your ears, and you only have enough time to twist around and place yourself between the shouting man and Javi before pain explodes in your shoulder, as the first bullet hits. A moment later, a second bullet tears through your flesh, in almost the same spot as the first, closely followed by one that hits your left thigh and makes your knees buckle.

Falling backwards, you’re caught by strong arms, just as the fourth bullet hits, and you hear Javi scream in a way that you’ve never heard him scream before as you sink to the ground together. It’s a truly terrifying sound and you want to tell him to run for cover inside.

Before you can get the words out, however, two more shots ring out. When there are no further bursts of pain anywhere on your body, you immediately fear the worst. But it’s not Javi that crumples. It’s the gunman. Red blooms on his chest and stomach, like big amaryllis flowers, and he falls to his knees like he’s about to pray.

Managing to turn your head just a fraction, you see Javi holding your gun out in front of himself. He must have pulled it from your holster as you slid to the ground. He’s crouching next to you with one arm still wrapped around your shoulders, holding you up slightly. His face is like a statue. A furious statue, with eyes that almost glow like fires in the orange evening light. He looks fearsome and so magnificent that you find it hard to breathe.

Javi squeezes the trigger again and you hear the man topple over onto the gravel. You don’t need to look to know he’s dead. Because Javi immediately drops the gun like it’s on fire and when he turns to look at you, the angry expression on his face melts away and morphs into one of worry. The fires in his eyes quenched by the tears you can see welling up there.

Your body feels numb but warm. It might have been nice if you didn’t suspect that the source of the warmth was the blood pouring out of you from your bullet wounds.

”I’m sorry. I fucked up,” you try telling him, because it’s important that he knows this. That this was your fault and no one else’s. But Javi doesn’t hear you. He’s screaming for the house-keeper to call an ambulance. She comes outside and when he sees you, cradled in Javi’s arms like a bloodier version of La Pieta, she screams too.

Dying is so much louder than you had expected. You realize that all the movies you’ve watched with Javi might have rubbed off on you because you’re half expecting music to start playing any moment now. It doesn’t. Instead of music, you get Javi, yelling in Spanish at the poor crying house-keeper to get her fucking shit together and call a fucking ambulance. If you had been given the choice, you would have picked a slightly calmer setting for your final moments. At least the pain isn’t as bad as you thought it would be. You’ve been shot before and that pain had been blinding. Perhaps it’s different when your body knows the pain won’t serve any purpose, when it knows it’s already too late. One final favor to make leaving a little easier.

At some point, an ambulance is finally called. You know because Javi turns his attention to you again and tells you as much. You try to nod but your body won’t quite cooperate anymore. You frown.

”Don’t be afraid,” Javi tells you, despite the fact that it’s his eyes that are filled with worry and tears. Like always, you want to reassure him that everything is fine. But you can’t bring yourself to lie.

”I’m not afraid,” you tell him instead and as you say the words, a memory flashes before your eyes. Actually, it’s several memories of the same thing, memories of watching a woman lying on the ground in front of a big truck. The corners of your mouth curve upwards into a small smile. ”When they ask me what I liked the best, I’ll tell them it was you,” you continue.

Javi’s eyes widen as he recognizes the words.

”That’s…” he chokes out, but his voice breaks before he can finish the sentence.

”I know…” you answer as darkness creeps into your vision.

Javi starts to slowly fade along with all the sounds and pain. It’s all turning dark. These are your end credits, you realize, and you wonder if Javi will stay until the very end for you too.

The last thing you feel before you disappear is a soft press against your lips.


	2. Alternative ending

_Beep……beep……beep……beep_

The sound is the first thing that registers as you return from the nothingness. It’s closely followed by the sensation of having a body again. It feels incredibly heavy and, while it doesn’t hurt, you can’t move it. It takes you an eternity just to locate your eyelids and an even longer eternity before you manage to open your eyes. When you do, all you see is white and your eyes tear up from the sudden light.

”Oh hey there,” you hear a voice nearby. A woman’s voice. You don’t recognize it but it still relaxes you. A tiny part of your brain reminds you not to relax around strangers but for the time being, you can’t remember why.

”Welcome back,” the woman continues, ”Can you hear my voice?”

You’re still blinded by the bright lights but you can in fact hear her and open your mouth just a fraction to tell her as much. But all that comes out is a wheezing sound. You frown.

”Oh, nodding is just fine, Sweetheart. Your throat must be dry as a desert. Let me get you some water in just a tic. Just gotta check…” You hear the woman shuffle something around next to you and press something that makes another _beep_. Your eyes are slowly adjusting to the light and you can make out white walls and a lady dressed in scrubs standing next to you. Her graying hair is tied up in a bun and her smile is kind when she turns her attention back to you.

”Alright, Darling, here we go. Got a cup of water and a straw for you right here. I suspect you’re still a little drowsy so I’ll help you out.” You feel something gently nudge your lips and it takes you a second to figure out how to close said lips around the straw and drink.

The woman continues to chat quietly with you, in her pleasant voice. She tells you that she’s a nurse – you had sort of guessed that – and that her name is Lisa – you hadn’t guessed that. She explains that you had been brought in three weeks ago with gunshot wounds and that it had been touch and go for quite a while there but that everyone is very relieved you’re doing better.

”Will you be alright by yourself for just a minute, Sweetheart?” she asks you and you nod.

”Good. We promised to call your husband as soon as you woke up.”

Lisa has already left the room when her words fully register. _Husband?_

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

You fall asleep again in the time that it takes before anyone comes back to the room. It’s her hushed voice that brings you back to consciousness again.

”I’ll leave you two alone for a bit. Just press the button if you need anything, alright,” she says.

”Thank you.” You recognize that voice too and something flutters in your chest. Javi. You force your eyes open again and search for him in the room. When your gazes meet, Javi makes a sound at the back of his throat that’s something between a gasp and a whimper.

”Hey,” you greet him, voice so hoarse it’s barely audible. Javi steps forward so he’s hovering by the side of your bed.

”Hey,” he almost whispers in reply, ”Can I…?

You’re not sure what he’s asking but, as always you are powerless to deny him anything, so you nod. When given permission, Javi reaches out and touches your face like it’s made of glass. His fingers feel warm and you close your eyes.

”You took a bullet for me,” he says, awe in his voice. You don’t open your eyes as you reply.

”Four”

”What?”

”I took _four_ bullets for you.” You crack an eye open to watch Javi’s expression shift from confusion to something else, something so soft you get the strangest urge to pull him onto the hospital bed with you. That would be a terrible idea for several reasons.

”You took _four_ bullets for me,” Javi corrects himself. His fingers are back on your face again and he cradles your cheek, there’s no other description for the tender gesture. There are suddenly tears in his eyes and you hate that you’re the one who put them there. You’re about to apologize when…

”Your heart stopped,” Javi says. ”Twice. In the ambulance over.”

You don’t know what to say to that. Thankfully Javi doesn’t seem to be expecting an answer because he continues.

”Don’t ever do that again?”

”Do what? Let my heart stop?” you rasp.

”Yes! Don’t let your heart stop and don’t get shot again!” he orders, crossing his arms over his chest for good measure. You sigh.

”Javi… it’s my job to keep you safe.”

”Then I’ll fire you!”

You raise an eyebrow and try to keep your smile in check.

”You’re gonna fire me? After I took a bullet for you.”

”Four. You took _four_ bullets for me.” His voice cracks just a little as he corrects you.

Now it’s your turn to reach for him. You’re not sure what prompts you to reach out and take his hand, you’re not usually the touchy-feely kind of person, but his hand feels warm and strong in yours and maybe you let the touch linger for a little longer than what is strictly necessary.

”I would take every single one of them again,” you tell him and he looks like he’s about to protest. ”But!… If you would consider not firing me, I promise I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Javi looks down at your interlinked hands and mumbles ”’m not gonna fire you.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Once it’s been established that you still have a job, you do your best to live up to the title and quiz Javi on who is in charge of security now that you’ve been out of commission for three weeks. His answers are satisfying enough and you relax back against the pillows again when Javi tells you that they’re looking into whom it was that sent the gunman after him.

You begin to feel tired again and Javi notices.

”You’re tired. You should rest,” he tells you, and you can’t muster the energy to protest. It would be a lie anyway. So instead you nod slowly as you blink.

Javi is pulling back when you’re suddenly reminded of something.

”Hey…,” you tell him, ”did you tell the nurses we’re married?”

Javi’s cheeks turn a delightful shade of red.

”I…did. I wasn’t sure if they would let me stay if I wasn’t…yours.” He watches you quietly, waiting for your reaction. You think it over for a moment before the image of Javi lying to the nurses about being your husband makes you chuckle.

”I suppose I could have done worse,” you tell him and the smile he gives you is almost worth getting shot over. ”Will you come by tomorrow?”

Javi nods.

”First thing in the morning,” he promises.


End file.
